Wood-Spirit Entanglement Art, Spirit Fields Infested with Pests

Hu Bugui left.

But Xu Changqing kept the matter of the New Year market firmly in mind.

Even if he could not trade for anything good, he could still join in the bustle.

What was more, this was within the Dongting Immortal Sect. There was no danger at all.

Night arrived. After eating a meal cooked from spirit rice, Xu Changqing sat cross-legged on his bed.

He held the jade pendant containing the Wood-Spirit Entanglement Art in his right hand and continued studying it diligently.

About half an hour later, the attribute panel appeared before his eyes.

[Xu Changqing]

[Male]

[18 years old]

[Wood Spirit Root]

[Middle Qi Refining]

[Low-Tier Evergreen Art (Fifth Layer)]

[Spirit Rice Wine (Beginner) ↑]

[High-Tier Wood Spirit Entanglement Art (First Layer) ↑]

(Effect One: Weeds transform into green vines)

(Effect Two: 50 jin of pulling force per vine)

(Effect Three: Temporarily restrains the target)

[Remaining Lifespan: 5140 days]

"Finally!" Xu Changqing's eyes lit up.

Over the past month, he had cultivated during the day and studied relentlessly at night.

He had compressed his resting time to the absolute limit.

At last, his efforts had not been in vain. He had learned his first high-tier spell.

With a slight circulation of the spiritual power within his body,

a phantom character for Wood immediately appeared in his right palm.

This was the Spirit Mark of the Wood-Spirit Entanglement Art.

It seemed impossible to remove, but as long as he dispersed his spiritual power, it would automatically hide.

Xu Changqing decisively got out of bed, hurried outside, and casually found an open patch thick with weeds.

He merely poured the spiritual power within his body into the Wood-character Spirit Mark.

At once, the weeds beneath his feet began swaying violently.

Whoosh!

Whoosh, whoosh!

Very soon, one weed after another transformed into vines and shot upward.

The greater the number, the greater the spiritual power consumption.

A single strand of spiritual power could support roughly ten vines.

Each vine possessed fifty jin of pulling force.

Ten vines meant five hundred jin, and so on.

Thus, the more vines there were, the stronger their pulling force became.

With Xu Changqing's current six strands of spiritual power, he could support at least fifty vines.

They could last for three minutes.

Yet Xu Changqing felt a trace of disappointment.

Sure enough, Wood Spirit Roots were not suited for combat in the early stages.

They were especially much weaker than Metal Spiritual Roots and Fire Spiritual Roots.

Even this, the only offensive spell available to Wood Spirit Root cultivators in the Qi Refining Realm of the Dongting Immortal Sect,

was not particularly eye-catching.

Afterward, Xu Changqing walked toward the other side.

The vines beside him followed him step for step.

Before long, he arrived before a poplar tree thick enough for one person to wrap their arms around.

Xu Changqing stirred in thought, and the weeds beneath his feet immediately wound around it.

Crack!

Crack!

In an instant, one strangling mark after another appeared across the poplar's trunk.

Xu Changqing watched and felt it was decent enough.

[Would you like to consume 2233 days of lifespan to raise the first layer of Wood-Spirit Entanglement Art to the second layer?]

"Sure enough, high-tier cultivation arts consume more lifespan." Xu Changqing was not surprised in the slightest.

His most pressing priority was still improving his ability to protect himself.

No matter how much it consumed, it was an investment in his own safety.

Without hesitation, he chose "Agree."

[Successfully consumed 2233 days of lifespan to raise Wood-Spirit Entanglement Art to the second layer]

[Remaining Lifespan: 2907 days]

[High-Tier Wood Spirit Entanglement Art (Second Layer)]

(Effect One: Evolves into Poison Thorn Grass)

(Effect Two: 100 jin of pulling force per vine)

(Effect Three: Long-lasting restraint of the target)

(Effect Four: Includes paralyzing toxin)

"It can actually evolve?!" Xu Changqing was greatly startled.

He lowered his head for a look.

He found that all the vines from before had limply shrunk back.

Then, he injected another strand of spiritual power into the Wood Spirit Seal.

At once, the weeds rapidly evolved into stalks of black poisonous grass covered in sharp thorns.

When they wound around the poplar before him again, they were indeed completely different.

The densely packed thorns covered it, instantly piercing one pinprick-sized hole after another.

With a casual tug, large chunks of bark were easily torn away.

In only a moment, the sight was horrifying.

Although he had yet to test the "paralyzing toxin,"

judging from the current situation, the second layer of Wood-Spirit Entanglement Art

was clearly several times more powerful than the first layer.

This also meant that Xu Changqing now possessed a certain degree of self-protection.

Next, he turned his gaze back to the attribute panel.

[Spirit Rice Wine (Beginner) ↑]

(Effect One: Increases spiritual energy absorption speed by 5% for one shichen)

Since the Wood-Spirit Entanglement Art could only be raised to the second layer for now,

he might as well upgrade this as well.

[Would you like to consume 888 days of lifespan to raise Spirit Rice Wine from Beginner to Proficient?]

"Yes."

At once, all kinds of brewing experience and techniques surged into his mind.

Before long, Xu Changqing had comprehended them all.

[Successfully consumed 888 days of lifespan to raise Spirit Rice Wine from Beginner to Proficient]

[Remaining Lifespan: 2019 days]

[Spirit Rice Wine (Proficient) ↑]

(Effect One: Increases spiritual energy absorption speed by 10% for one shichen)

(Effect Two: In a tipsy state, increases low-tier cultivation art comprehension speed by 5%)

"Not bad." Xu Changqing nodded.

Spirit Rice Wine was, after all, one of the most ordinary wines in the cultivation world.

For it to have such effects was already quite good.

[Would you like to consume 1566 days of lifespan to raise Spirit Rice Wine from Proficient to Mastery?]

"Keep going." Xu Changqing could accept it.

In an instant, increasingly abundant experience and techniques flooded into his mind.

[Successfully consumed 1566 days of lifespan to raise Spirit Rice Wine from Proficient to Mastery]

[Remaining Lifespan: 453 days]

[Spirit Rice Wine (Mastery)]

(Effect One: Increases spiritual energy absorption speed by 15% for one shichen)

(Effect Two: Spiritual power consumption -10% when operating wood-element cultivation arts)

(Effect Three: In a tipsy state, increases low-tier cultivation art comprehension speed by 10%)

(Negative Effect One: Long-term drinking reduces reaction speed)

"A negative effect actually appeared." Xu Changqing raised a brow.

But the increase in spiritual energy absorption speed alone made it worthwhile.

Combined with the 50% cultivation speed bonus from the fifth layer of the Evergreen Formula,

it felt as though he would soon break through to Late Qi Refining.

In the days that followed, Xu Changqing did not slacken.

Every day, he immersed himself in cultivation.

Finally, two months after becoming a formal disciple,

his seventh strand of spiritual power was born.

With that, Late Qi Refining was no longer far away.

This cultivation speed had already left Lin An and the others far behind.

It had even caught up to those veteran spirit farmers who had entered the Spirit Field Core Region years ago.

These people possessed abundant resources, along with the support of at least the second layer of the Evergreen Formula.

Some had even raised it to the third layer.

Yet compared with Xu Changqing, they still fell a little short.

After all, his Evergreen Formula had already been raised to the "fifth layer."

His cultivation speed had increased by a full 50%.

"Strange, why are these spirit plants covered in yellowish-brown specks?" Xu Changqing came to the ridge between fields. Just as he was about to cultivate, he made an unexpected discovery.

He immediately extended his senses, and his expression changed slightly.

Those yellowish-brown specks were actually living insects.

The vast majority of the Grade-Two Spirit Field had already been occupied by them.

They nearly covered the stalks and rice ears of the spirit rice.

This was the first time Xu Changqing had encountered such a situation.

Back when he had been at the outer perimeter of the Spirit Fields, nearly a year had passed without anything similar occurring.

After thinking it over, he immediately headed for the Core Administration Office, intending to ask Flower Elder for advice.

When he arrived at the mountaintop palace this time, he found quite a few fellow disciples coming and going.

"Flower Elder!" Xu Changqing saw him again.

"Xu... Changqing?" Flower Elder had some impression of him and vaguely remembered that he could grow supreme-grade spirit rice.

"Yes, it's me." Xu Changqing nodded repeatedly.

Flower Elder said with a smile, "You came here because of those insects too, I presume."

Xu Changqing said in surprise, "Yes. The spirit fields are full of yellowish-brown insects."

Flower Elder explained, "Those yellowish-brown insects are called Winter Awakening Bugs. They only awaken in winter, after the temperature falls to a certain level, and then crawl out from the soil."

"Winter Awakening Bugs?" Xu Changqing looked somewhat bewildered.

Flower Elder nodded slightly. "These insects only appear in Grade-Two Spirit Fields and above, because they have long been slumbering within the Black Soil."

"So that's how it is." Xu Changqing understood, then asked, "How do we deal with them?"

"There are only two methods." Flower Elder paused before continuing, "The first is to find disciples with Metal Spiritual Roots and have them come kill the insects.

"The second method is to find disciples with Water Spiritual Roots to cast the Minor Cloud-Rain Art."

"And if we ignore them?" Xu Changqing asked tentatively.

Flower Elder said with some gravity, "If you ignore them, your spirit plants will not be eaten clean, but their yield will drop by at least two-thirds. When that happens, you will be unable to complete your quarterly task."

Xu Changqing said helplessly, "Looks like I can only ask someone for help."

"Go post a task over there, then choose the specific reward. If someone accepts it, dealing with these little insects will be very quick." Flower Elder pointed toward the other side of the palace.

This time, because there were more people around,

Xu Changqing could see many disciples who had specifically come here to take on side work.

Xu Changqing swept his gaze over them and felt that it was much like handling paperwork in his previous life.

Each person had their own window, then lined up.

With no other choice, Xu Changqing picked a queue with fewer people.

About ten minutes later, it was finally his turn.

"What would you like to do, fellow Daoist?" The female disciple across from him smiled.

Xu Changqing immediately said, "I want to post a mission to kill Winter Awakening Bugs."

The female disciple asked, "What's the reward?"

"What's the minimum?" Xu Changqing did not know much about this.

"Spirit stones or spirit rice?"

"Spirit rice."

"First-grade or second-grade?"

"First-grade!"

"For first-grade, the minimum is fifty jin."

"Alright."

The pest-killing mission was processed quickly.

Before long, the other side handed him a spirit talisman and explained, "If someone accepts the pest-killing mission you posted, this talisman will light up. The closer they are, the faster it will flash."

"Understood." Xu Changqing took it.

By now, he had very little spirit rice left.